Eoin Morgan has all but given up on playing in next summer’s Ashes series after confirming he has decided to play in this year’s Indian Premier League rather than try to get back into England’s Test team.
Morgan is leading England in Australia after replacing Alastair Cook as one-day captain shortly before Christmas. The Irishman will lead the side into the World Cup, starting with a game against Australia in Melbourne on 14 February, but his immediate international ambitions appear to be restricted to limited-overs formats.
Morgan, speaking before England’s Tri-Series game against India in Perth on Friday, confirmed he has entered himself into this year IPL auction, which takes place in Bangalore two days after the start of the World Cup.
The 28-year-old, who has previously played in the IPL for Bangalore Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders, opted out of last year’s auction to concentrate on playing County Championship cricket for Middlesex in a bid to get back into the Test team following the 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia.
But, if he is picked up in the auction this year, and with a reserve price of £160,000 the chances are high, Morgan could be unavailable for the first five matches of this year’s County Championship as well as the first home Test of the summer against New Zealand.
“Yeah, I will be in the IPL auction this year, and I can confirm that hopefully I will be picked up,” he said. “It fits in fine [with England]. The Test guys are unavailable for that period because of a Test tour to the West Indies.”
Morgan played the last of his 16 Tests in early 2012 against Pakistan in the UAE and he admits his ambitions about getting back into the team have taken a back seat for now.
“I think they’ve been scaled down a bit probably since the start of our summer,” he said. “I suppose the opportunity I gave myself in missing the IPL last year and potential carrot of the end of the road was, I think, three positions available at the start of our summer, and I didn’t manage to get any of them. So since then it has been scaled down a bit. The ambition still is to play Test cricket, absolutely, but given where I’m at at the moment, I think the IPL is the best thing for me.”
Along with Ravi Bopara and Alex Hales, Morgan, who also played for Sydney Thunder in this year’s Big Bash League, is one of three England players currently in Australia who will enter the IPL auction.
He believes the experience gained playing Twenty20 cricket around the world is beneficial for his leadership of the one-day team.
“I think it’s nice to have one ear to the ground, both playing Big Bash and potential IPL,” he said. “It’s very useful because again, cricket is changing so much at the moment, it’s nice to have new fresh ideas. And again, opportunity not only for myself but for other English cricketers to go and play, I think they should take it with both hands. It’s a great experience, and like the Big Bash it’s a huge opportunity to put yourself under pressure and bridge that gap between our domestic game at home and the international game.”
However, Morgan refuted claims the lack of current England players participating in the IPL is undermining the team’s progress in international limited-overs cricket.
“I wouldn’t say it’s hampered our one-day cricket,” he said. “I think the basics of one-day cricket have remained very traditional for the first 35 overs of the game with the two new balls coming in. And again, looking at our batting order down the line, five, six, seven, eight, it’s pretty strong. And given that three of us have played in overseas tournaments has probably helped that. I think a balance of both does work, but the opportunity has to come.”
